sauce

American  

[saws] / sɔs /

noun

1. any preparation, usually liquid or semiliquid, eaten as a gravy or as a relish accompanying food.

2. stewed fruit, often puréed and served as an accompaniment to meat, dessert, or other food.

   cranberry sauce.

3. something that adds piquance or zest.

4. Informal. sauciness; impertinence; impudence.

5. Slang. Usually the sauce hard liquor.

   He's on the sauce again.

6. Archaic. garden vegetables eaten with meat.

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verb (used with object)

sauced, saucing

1. to dress or prepare with sauce; season.

   meat well sauced.

2. to make a sauce of.

   Tomatoes must be sauced while ripe.

3. to give piquance or zest to.

4. to make agreeable or less harsh.

5. Informal. to speak impertinently or saucily to.

sauce British  

/ sɔːs /

noun

1. any liquid or semiliquid preparation eaten with food to enhance its flavour

2. anything that adds piquancy

3. stewed fruit

4. dialect vegetables eaten with meat

5. informal impudent language or behaviour

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verb

1. to prepare (food) with sauce

2. to add zest to

3. to make agreeable or less severe

4. informal to be saucy to

sauce Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing sauce

• hit the bottle (sauce)

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Other Word Forms

• oversauce verb (used with object)
• sauceless adjective

Etymology

Origin of sauce

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin salsa, noun use of feminine of Latin salsus “salted,” past participle of sallere “to salt,” derivative of sāl “salt”; see also salt ¹

Explanation

A sauce is a nearly-liquid or soft topping or condiment for food. You might prefer your spaghetti with tomato sauce and your broccoli with cheese sauce. The cuisine of every country and region has its own sauces, from chutney served with Indian dosas to Hollandaise sauce on eggs Benedict and caramel sauce dolloped on sticky toffee pudding. You can even use sauce as a fancy verb: "Shall I sauce the beef?" Figuratively, to sauce someone is to speak in an impudent or cheeky way.

Example Sentences

Silver Diner, which has locations across the Mid-Atlantic states, offers a free-range turkey platter with rosemary-sage gravy and ginger cranberry-orange sauce on its kids’ menu.

From Salon • Apr. 25, 2026

It’s got cashew mozzarella, tomato sauce, Italian sausage crumble and more.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026

In March, it rolled out Big Arch—a limited-time, large-format burger that features two quarter-pound beef patties, white cheddar cheese, crispy onions, pickles, and a tangy new sauce on a toasted sesame-poppy seed bun.

From Barron's • Apr. 21, 2026

A sauce that turns whatever you’re making into something cohesive.

From Salon • Apr. 21, 2026

There was a bowl set out for him filled with off-yellow pasta swamped in bright orange sauce.

From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young

Related Words

• dressing
• flavoring
• gravy
• relish